I would very much like to see in the comments, reasoned guesses as to who did it, why, and what will happen to them if they are caught. Will their names even be published? Any other speculation would be interesting. I might add on a personal note, that in Judea and Sumeria, Muslims have smashing machines for artifacts that show any evidence of Jewish life in antiquity in those locations. Islam does not merely wish to kill all non-believers or enslave them. It does not seek merely to have political control over them. It means to obliterate the very history of all people who are not Muslim. To destroy evidence of what Koran calls, ‘The time of ignorance”.
From the Daily Mail:
By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 4:40 PM on 9th December 2010
Vandals have destroyed one of the most celebrated Christian pilgrimage sites in Britain and chopped down a tree said to have sprouted from the staff of Joseph of Arimathea 2,000 years ago.
The Holy Thorn Tree of Glastonbury, Somerset, is visited by thousands every year to pay homage and leave tokens of worship. Those visiting today were moved to tears on finding the tree cut to a stump.
The sacred tree is unique in that it blossoms twice a year – at Christmas and Easter – and sprigs taken from the thorn are sent to The Queen each year for the festive table.
Police tape surrounds the vandalised Holy Thorn tree on Wearyall Hill in Glastonbury as stunned locals look on. The branches were cut off overnight and a police investigation has been launched
The tree in all its glory before it was hacked apart. Legend says it sprang from the staff of Joseph of Arimathea, the man who helped Jesus of the cross. To the right of the tree, in the distance, is Glastonbury Tor
A member of the public gathers sprigs from the chopped branches while (right) onlookers cry and say prayers
BROUGHT TO LIFE BY JOSEPH OF ARIMATHEA, CHOPPED DOWN BY CROMWELL’S ROUNDHEADS, REBORN THANKS TO LOCALS
Christian legend dictates that Jesus’s great uncle, Joseph of Arimathea, came to Britain after the crucifixion 2,000 years ago bearing the Holy Grail – the cup used by Christ at the Last Supper.
He visited Glastonbury and thrust his staff into Wearyall Hill, just below the Tor, planting a seed for the original thorn tree.
Roundheads felled the tree during the English Civil War, when forces led by Oliver Cromwell (pictured) waged a vicious battle against the Crown.
However, locals salvaged the roots of the original tree, hiding it in secret locations around Glastonbury.
It was then replanted on the hill in 1951. Other cuttings were also grown and placed around the town – including its famous Glastonbury Abbey.
Experts had verified that the tree – known as the Crategus Monogyna Bi Flora – originated from the Middle East.
A sprig of holy thorns was taken from the Thorn tree by Glastonbury’s St Johns Church on Wednesday and sent to the Queen.
The 100-year-old tradition will see the thorns sit on Her Majesty’s dinner table on Christmas Day
Avon and Somerset Police have launched an investigation after locals found that vandals had hacked off the branches of the iconic tree. They were dumped next to the trunk which is protected by a metal cage.
Locals wept openly today at the foot of the tree, on the town’s Wearyall Hill opposite its world-famous Tor as they struggled to contain their emotion.
Katherine Gorbing, curator of Glastonbury Abbey, said: ‘The mindless vandals who have hacked down this tree have struck at the heart of Christianity.
‘It holds a very special significance all over the world and thousands follow in the footsteps of Joseph Arimathea, coming especially to see it.
‘It is the most significant of all the trees planted here and can be linked back to the origins of Christianity.
‘When I arrived at the Abbey this morning you could look over to the hill and see it was not there.
‘It’s a great shock to everyone in Glastonbury – the landscape of the town has changed overnight.’
Glastonbury Mayor John Coles rushed to the tree site after he heard the news.
Mr Coles, 66, said: ‘I’m stood on Wearyall Hill looking at a sad, sad, sight. The tree has been chopped down – someone has taken a saw to it.
‘Some of the main trunk is there but the branches have been sawn away. I am absolutely lost for words – I just do not know why people would want to do this.
‘This tree was visited by thousands of people each year and is one of the most important Christian sites. It is known all over the world.’
Deputy Mayor William Knight, 63, added: ‘This is absolutely mindless. We are all devastated.’
There are up to 4.2m CCTV cameras in Britain – about one for every 14 people . . .there must be some footage leading up to this crime to help identify the culprits.
I am willing to bet a week swages that the people who did this will end up bearing names like muhammed, jafar and Ismael. Mark my words.
Sahih Muslim –
Chapter# 10, Book 19, Number 4324:
It is narrated on the authority of ‘Abdullah that the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) ordered the date-palms of Banu Nadir to be burnt and cut. These palms were at Buwaira. Qutaibah and Ibn Rumh in their versions of the tradition have added: So Allah, the Glorious and Exalted, revealed the verse:” Whatever trees you have cut down or left standing on their trunks, it was with the permission of Allah so that He may disgrace the evil-doers” (lix. 5).
Book 19, Number 4325:
It is narrated on the authority of Ibn Umar that the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) caused the date-palms of Banu Nadir to be cut down and burnt. It is in this connection that Hassan (the poet) said:
It was easy for the nobles of Quraish to barn Buwaira whose sparks were flying in all directions.
in the same connection was revealed the Qur’anic verse:” Whatever trees you have cut down or left standing on their trunks.”
Book 19, Number 4326:
‘Abdullah b. Umar reported that Allah’s Apostle (may peace be upon him) burnt the date-palms of Banu Nadir.
Nick I agree with you, and nothing will be done to them, this is sick.
I wouldn’t call it the heart of Christianity. bit it is the only Holy Site in a nominally Christian nation.
They might not be Muslims, they could be a satanist cult.
Ahcim,
islam is a satanist cult… and if it wasn’t muslims, why didn’t the other satanists do the deed during the last 2000 years?
wake up moron
Probably MUCH more likely, that it could have been Ashkenazi counterfeit-jews that did it.
Percival:
Do you have any evidence or president for that at all?